Lucky Rabbit

Everyone trooped down the stairs, through the battered hallways, and back to the small entry space. When Pandy started to reach for the door, however, Nox gave her such a disapproving look that she backed off immediately and let him handle it.

After a brief exchange with whoever stood on the cracked stoop, the elemental butler stepped back out of the way of their guests. Clearing his throat, he announced, “Her Majesty, Queen Regent Louisa, Crown Prince Kaden, Princess Eleanor, and Lord Winston Howl the Third to see Lady Avington and her ward.”

Pandy couldn’t help it – she gaped, taking some small comfort in the fact that Isidor was doing the same. Nox and Nyssa seemed utterly unshaken, however, with Nox taking their guests’ cloaks, and Nyssa cheerfully asking if they’d like some tea. This snapped Pandy from her shocked state, and she shook her head vigorously at the queen over Nyssa’s shoulder.

“No, thank you,” Queen Louisa said, with a practiced smile. “We just ate.”

Nyssa’s gaze went past the queen to the two royal offspring, both of whom also politely refused tea. The elemental visibly deflated, but drifted to the door leading into the sitting room. She still had feet, but had apparently forgotten she was supposed to use them, so she floated slightly above the floorboards. Eleanor and Kaden’s eyes were huge as they took this in, but their mother took it all in stride.

The royal family stood just inside the sitting room as Nyssa quickly shifted a few more chairs to the center of the room. Pandy tried to help, but got another of those ‘don’t you dare’ looks from Nox that made her subside instantly. Seeing it, Queen Louisa gave her a small, understanding smile, as if she, too, was often bullied by her servants.

Once five somewhat-acceptable chairs had been placed in a circle around the small central tea-table, everyone sat down. Isidor had been given the worst of the available seating, and he shifted uncomfortably as he tried to find a spot where something wasn’t poking into him. Unfortunately, it was a losing battle, and he eventually settled back with a grimace and a resigned sigh.

“Can I get you anything? Start a fire, perhaps?” Nyssa asked, still literally hovering nearby. Pandy looked where the elemental gestured, and realized there was indeed a small fireplace against the outside wall. It was almost completely hidden by neglected furniture, and Pandy was certain she could actually make out a hint of daylight that definitely shouldn’t be visible through an intact wall.

“No,” Queen Louisa said, a bit more firmly. “I’d simply like to speak with Lady Avington and her… brother. In private.”

At this, Nyssa looked so crestfallen that Pandy said, “Would you continue working on Isidor’s room, please? I’m sure he’d appreciate that.” Isidor’s look said he would not, in fact, appreciate any such thing, but he didn’t actually object, so Nyssa returned to her usual cheerful demeanor, curtseying to the group before floating out through the door.

The queen sat in her lumpy, stained chair for several long seconds, carefully adjusting the folds of her luxurious dress. In fact, Prince Kaden opened his mouth to speak before his mother finally looked up at Pandy and said, “I hope you won’t be terribly offended if I get right to the point. I’m afraid I don’t have much time before someone notices I’m not where I’m meant to be.” Pandy blinked. Who was telling the queen of the whole country what to do?

“It has come to my attention,” Louisa said carefully, “that there may be a great number of gaps in the security surrounding my family, even when we are in what should be our greatest sanctuary, the palace.” Her gaze flicked to her daughter, who was pale and silent, hands clenched together within her skirts. Lord Winston all but sat on the princess’s feet, as close to his young mistress as he could get without actually being in her lap.

“We found half a dozen more of those dolls in our private quarters,” Kaden burst out. “The knights are sweeping the rest of the palace right now, but nothing should have been in our living area, much less our bedrooms.”

“Kaden,” Queen Louisa said, and her son sank back in his chair, then rocked to the side as a spring dug into a royal buttock. Turning back to Pandy, the queen continued.

“While Kaden must remain visible and in Knightmere, I was preparing to send Eleanor away, to an estate owned by my mother’s cousin, who lives in Targren. However, Eleanor has let me know that she would prefer almost any other option,” Louisa turned a wry look on her daughter, who flushed a bright pink.

“A mutual friend offered just such an option. He is so certain that you are trustworthy that he was willing to place his own honor on the line by recommending you. So,” Her Majesty Queen Regent Louisa said, “I am calling upon the head of the Avington family to once again display the loyalty and integrity for which they were once so famous. Your monarch has need of you, Lady Avington. Will you fulfill your duty?”

Somewhere deep inside Pandy, something tugged at her. It wasn’t a hard tug, certainly not something she couldn’t resist, but she didn’t even try. “What do you need, your Majesty? I mean, I’m not really Lady Avington, but-”

“You are,” Louisa said firmly. “Avington House itself has acknowledged you. You used the book.”

Did everyone know about the books? And how did the queen know Pandy had used one? It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes since she’d picked the thing up – fifteen at the outside. Pandy almost wished Nox was there so she could glare at him, but quickly changed her mind. The last thing she needed was a magical family retainer with Opinions. Honestly, she’d just wanted a nice house with a yard and enough room for guests. Why was everything always so complicated?

With a sigh, Louisa allowed her perfect posture to relax ever so slightly. “I need someplace where my daughter will be both safe and happy, Lady Pandora.” Pandy flinched at the use of her real name, but the queen had already turned to Isidor.

“I can see now that what happened was not your fault. Those with far more experience and training than you were utterly unable to prevent our safety from being compromised. I’m… sorry,” she said. “I hope that you, too, will aid Princess Eleanor as necessary, and in return, I shall reconsider your case when you come of age.”

Isidor’s expression was taut, but there was a desperate kind of hope dawning in his eyes. Pandy really, really wanted to know what they were talking about, but obviously she couldn’t ask. Not right now, anyway. It was enough that Isidor was almost smiling when he nodded and said, “Of course, Your Majesty. I’d be honored to do whatever I can.”

With a small answering smile, Louisa focused on Pandy again, saying, “At least for now, Eleanor’s presence must be kept a secret. Eventually, I hope to find a way to allow her to attend Falconet again, but first we need to be certain there are no traitors remaining at the school. That means she will need a tutor, which will be arranged. In the meantime, she will live here, under House Avington’s protection.”

Pandy blinked and tried one more time. “Um, have you… seen my house?” She looked around. The sitting room looked like someone had been going for shabby-chic, but went right past chic while nailing the shabby part. Besides, even if Nox and Nyssa had removed the intentionally deadly bits, this house was still a death-trap simply by virtue of its current condition. There was no way a child, much less a princess, should be living here. Isidor didn’t count, since he was both desperate and trained to be ready for death at any moment, but Pandy had expected to have until at least midwinter to fix things up for the others.

It was Louisa’s turn to look confused. “You do have the Avington book, do you not? Of course I’ll provide the money to make the house habitable. I’d never expect Eleanor to live,” to her credit, she didn’t say ‘here’, “in a home that wasn’t prepared for her. I am, after all, asking a great deal of you on short acquaintance. I would never expect you to help me without any form of recompense.”

Pandy shook her head. “I don’t… it took three gold just to fix a door that was already in really good shape. Do you have any idea how much it’ll cost to fix the whole place?”

This time the queen did smile. “All of the estates built during the founding of Knightmere have books of their own – including the palace. I know exactly how much it costs. Kaden?”

Kaden nodded and started pulling bags out of a pocket they definitely should not have fit inside. Each one clinked as it was gently placed on the floor beside him.

“Each bag has one hundred gold in it. We’ll begin with twenty bags, and you can let Augustus know when you need more. I suggest you fix the interior of the house right away, then slowly make small changes to the outside, so as not to attract too much attention,” Louisa said briskly, rising from her lumpy seat with visible relief. Looking at Eleanor, she said, “Do be good, my darling. Kaden will be by to visit you.” Then, turning to Isidor, she held out her hand, and without hesitation, he dropped his age-shifting necklace into her palm.

Eleanor stood as well, looking uncertainly from her mother to Pandy. She bobbed a little curtsey, the queen gave her a surprisingly tight hug, and then Louisa and Kaden were gone, leaving behind one small princess, a bonus elemental dog, twenty bags of gold, and several packages that looked like they probably contained some of Eleanor’s personal items.

Nox entered the room as soon as the front door closed behind the departing queen and prince. His gaze swept over the mound of bags before focusing on the dainty, golden-haired child. “The second bedroom is spoken for, but now that funds have been secured for the repair of the house, we can fix up the others as well. You may choose whichever one you prefer, of course, though I suggest the fifth bedroom. It’s closest to the office, which is the safest place in the house in case of… unforeseen circumstances.”

Turning to Pandy, he gave a small bow. “I’ll bring all of this upstairs, shall I, Lady Avington?”

Pandy was thoroughly off balance. Within the space of half an hour, she’d found out that her entire house was controlled by a magical book, accidentally spent every point of Mana she had in trying to repair it, then had a princess dumped on her. Admittedly, she liked Eleanor a great deal, but this was definitely not how she’d seen her day going. Still, Pandy had long practice in dealing with unexpected situations, and at least this time she didn’t have to figure out how to get a purple poodle back to a family of insomniac mimes.

For once, Pandy didn’t have to be the only one left feeling confounded, so instead of allowing the butler to take the many bags Kaden had dropped on the floor, Pandy picked them up and placed the coins into her Inventory, bringing her total gold up to two thousand, two hundred and eighty-one. Then she picked up as many of Eleanor’s packages as she could tuck under one arm and held out the other hand to the princess, who still hadn’t spoken a single word.

“Come on,” she said, “let’s find you a room.”

Eleanor started to reach for her, faltered, and burst out, “I’m sorry! I just wanted… I wanted… I wish I was just normal.” Her eyes were huge in her small, pale face, and she looked like she might start crying at any moment. At her feet, Lord Winston whimpered softly.

Pandy felt like a numbskull. She was worrying about her own situation when Eleanor had literally just been abandoned by her family. Yes, the queen had said Kaden would come to check on her – and Pandy didn’t want to guess how he was going to do that unobtrusively – but Eleanor was in a strange place, with strange people, and-

She stopped. Eleanor had only seen Pandy’s new face once before, as they fled the ship on what had probably been one of the princess’s worst nights ever. It had been dark, smoky, chaotic, and just because Eleanor had stabbed Pandy a little bit, that didn’t mean she recognized her now.

It seemed like Queen Louisa knew all of Pandy’s faces, but her communication with her daughter was iffy at best, so had she told Eleanor? Pandy had only told the children her real name once, and ever since then she’d been ‘Bunny’ or ‘Ms. Wellington.’ Did the princess even know that the tall teenage boy was her former bodyguard, Isidor? Had anyone used Isidor’s name during the very oblique conversation that had just taken place?

Reaching up, Pandy unclasped her necklace, revealing the familiar, freckled face of Ms. Wellington, along with the thoroughly unfamiliar butchered haircut. Then she held open her arms and waited.

Eleanor’s face went pink, and her eyes finally overflowed, but she was smiling when she launched herself into Pandy’s embrace.